Hi Renata - Can my boss make us stay at work when the toilets will not flush?
Your employer has a duty under s.21 of the OHS Act to provide a working environment that is safe and without risks to health, and at s.21(2)(d) of the OHS Act your employer has a duty to “provide, so far as is reasonably practicable, adequate facilities for the welfare of employees at any workplace under the management and control of the employer”.
“Facilities” includes toilets - failure to provide adequate toilet facilities can lead to serious health issues including urinary tract infections, kidney infections and digestive issues. As well as being a physical health hazard, not being able to access suitable toilet facilities may also be a psychological or psychosocial hazard, or discrimination, or other unlawful workplace situation.
But what does “adequate facilities” mean?
The WorkSafe publication Compliance code: Workplace facilities and the working environment gives employers guidance on how they can comply with their s.21(2)(d) duty, stating “All employees need to have access to clean and hygienic toilet facilities at all times while at work, so far as is reasonably practicable”. Clearly, a toilet that does not flush cannot qualify as “clean and hygienic”.
Where there is a temporary interruption to the provision of adequate toilet and hand washing facilities, employers should provide alternative facilities, like bottled water and portable toilets when employees work remotely at a single location, or an agreement with neighbouring businesses for access to their facilities. Where temporary facilities are provided, they should be located relatively close to where the employees are working for easy access.
If your employer is unable to provide alternative facilities and it is going to be more than a few hours before water supply is returned to toilets, arrangements should be made for staff to work from home where possible. Management insistence on staff remaining on work premises when there are no usable toilet facilities is unacceptable, and you may want to consider issuing a direction to cease work in that situation - I would recommend contacting your union directly for support and guidance if that were the case.
You can find more information about your employer’s duty to provide toilet facilities in the workplace at our Toilet facilities - what should workplaces have? - OHS Reps and Toilet Calculator tool - OHS Reps pages.
If you have any questions about OHS we encourage to fill out an Ask Renata query and one of our officials will get back to you shortly. Alternatively give Ask Renatabot a try!